So can someone explain to me what 3D audio is? I honestly thought all audio (surround) was 3D.
See this is where I'm lost again. I understand it's on a whole other level, but I could always tell when a player was above me using my Surround Sound headphones so that's what made me think all audio was 3D.Surround Sound exists on a flat plane (making it two dimensional) while Spatial Sound has height values meaning it it three dimensional.
Ok, I'll hold out until closer to or even after launch. Thank you for explaining all this.Any pair of cheap ear buds should work perfectly fine with it. Not sure if true Surround Sound headphones would work 100% with this though, but virtual surround headset should work as long as you can turn VSS off.
If you are looking to get a top-tier audio experience next-gen, it would probably be smart to hold off for now on making any headset purchases until we get closer to launch.
Ah ok, thank you for explaining. So with that do you think Surround Sound headphones will not be able to take full advantage of it? And I should hold out from buying a new pair of headphones anytime soon. Thanks again.
I'm just going to have a look into seeing if I can turn it off just now. Thank you all for the replies, a simple pleb truly appreciates it lol.If you have a surround sound headset/headphones and they allow you to, just turn off the "virtual surround", "3d audio" or "5.1/7.1" functionality.
Some "surround sound" headphones will feature multiple small drivers (speakers) in each ear to better simulate virtual surround; and while this may not be ideal, I don't expect it'll break down a real 3D audio effect too much as long as any additional processing is turned off and you getting the left audio channel to your left ear and the right audio channel to your right ear..
Oh cool. Thanks for explaining.The 3D Audio is baked into the 2.0 stereo stream; so if you can plug headphones into a 3.5mm jack on your tv/controller/receiver, then by extension you can broadcast a 2.0 stereo stream that is the same.
They never said 3D Audio was unique for the PS5, they just made clear that they're implementing it properly.
3D Audio in itself isn't new (though most times you see it written on products it's faked or virtualised), what is special is that they're implementing a unified end-to-end solution where the platform has full control over the audio pathway as well as a very powerful dedicated hardware block that allows for an extremely complex soundscape from which the 3D audio is derived.
The key at the end is applying a HRTF (Head Related Transfer Function). This is needed to match the shapes of our inner ears and the acoustics of a human head. Sony will be offering multiple profiles for different ear shapes.
The fact that you can play the resulting stream through any device is a good thing, many other formats require proprietary crap that shouldn't really need to be there. With this solution you plug in bog standard stereo headphones and it should just work.
So, that's just an audio trick, as far as the actual speakers (physical or virtual) were aware, the sound was never above you. We have just discovered a way to make stuff sound like it was.See this is where I'm lost again. I understand it's on a whole other level, but I could always tell when a player was above me using my Surround Sound headphones so that's what made me think all audio was 3D.
Username checks out. Thanks.If you have a surround sound headset/headphones and they allow you to, just turn off the "virtual surround", "3d audio" or "5.1/7.1" functionality.
Some "surround sound" headphones will feature multiple small drivers (speakers) in each ear to better simulate virtual surround; and while this may not be ideal, I don't expect it'll break down a real 3D audio effect too much as long as any additional processing is turned off and you getting the left audio channel to your left ear and the right audio channel to your right ear..
Right, I'm slowly getting it lol. So that's truly insane. Why aren't people making a bigger deal than they are? This is huge!So, that's just an audio trick, as far as the actual speakers (physical or virtual) were aware, the sound was never above you. We have just discovered a way to make stuff sound like it was.
With surround sound each sound is told a direction and the sound comes out of the speaker (or speakers) that are in that direction. When a sound passes overhead or underneath it isn't actually doing that, instead its passing through you and the visuals on screen help your brain to put that audio above or below you.
Spatial sound, on the other hand, doesn't really acknowledge speakers but rather gives each sound a source in 3D space, the tech (be it Atmos, Sonic, Tempest, etc.) then assigns that sound to speakers that exist around that place. A spatial sound set up can have 5 speakers or it can have 50. And the system knows the approximate location (both height and directional) and makes those speakers play the sound at the right volume to make it sound like its coming from where its coming from.
Headphones are slightly more complicated since it still relies on just two headphones so the actual method of conveying the audios location to the listener hasn't really changed except that instead of the stereo speakers simulating 5-7 virtual speakers, it is now simulating infinite(ish).
Ok so what should I do?
- PC with conventional headset
- Plug a conventional headset on the DS4
- Watch it trough YouTube VR with PSVR ?
The tech has existed for a few years now, and people made a bigger deal when it started appearing on PC or Xbox but because not all platforms supported Spatial audio it wasn't widely adopted (I think there is also a licensing fee if you want to use specific tech) so excitement sort of fell off once it failed to take off. Hopefully now that Sony has finally joined the Spatial Audio party we might see wider adoption, though sadly it seems they still are extending support to existing tech, instead deciding to have their own independent tech meaning that it may not see much adoption for multiplatform games.Right, I'm slowly getting it lol. So that's truly insane. Why aren't people making a bigger deal than they are? This is huge!
Just shows how buried in the sand my head really is! Haha. The tech truly sounds amazing, I can't wait to experience it.The tech has existed for a few years now, and people made a bigger deal when it started appearing on PC or Xbox but because not all platforms supported Spatial audio it wasn't widely adopted (I think there is also a licensing fee if you want to use specific tech) so excitement sort of fell off once it failed to take off. Hopefully now that Sony has finally joined the Spatial Audio party we might see wider adoption, though sadly it seems they still are extending support to existing tech, instead deciding to have their own independent tech meaning that it may not see much adoption for multiplatform games.
TL;DR: The tech is amazing and those that have experienced it have been fawning over it for ages but the lack of adoption in games and movies has sort of killed it.
The last two Gears games have used it and so did the last Tomb Raider. Both experiences were amazing for the audio alone.Just shows how buried in the sand my head really is! Haha. The tech truly sounds amazing, I can't wait to experience it.
I'm just going to have a look into seeing if I can turn it off just now. Thank you all for the replies, a simple pleb truly appreciates it lol.
Ok so what should I do?
- PC with conventional headset
- Plug a conventional headset on the DS4
- Watch it trough YouTube VR with PSVR ?
That's what I like to see. Keep ui talk /hardware talk for another time. Games games games haha
If you're playing games with Atmos support, or playing on Playstation Platinum (iirc) headsets on the like three fully supported titles, then what the PS5 is doing is largely similar, just with probably a lot more processing power for higher quality. Otherwise, you're probably just good at picking out context clues and area awareness.See this is where I'm lost again. I understand it's on a whole other level, but I could always tell when a player was above me using my Surround Sound headphones so that's what made me think all audio was 3D.
The Tempest engine on PS5 is not only doing full 3D surround, but they're interpolating between hundreds (iirc) of virtual speakers, including overhead and apparently underneath (have fun horror fans!).They use different virtual speaker placements. Atmos uses the speaker placements designed for the ideal rectangular room with narrow angles. Sonic uses a perfectly square room having equidistant virtual speakers surrounding the listener. In the case of Atmos, the angles are narrow in the front soundstage at 30 degrees off-center.
Sonic does not offer any virtual overhead for non-Atmos games. Atmos applies spatial surround to process ambient sounds that are common between both channels to the virtual overhead.
Anything stereo that can be plugged into the PS5 should work. Since all but one has a 3.5mm jack, all of those will work thanks to the Dualsense having a 3.5mm jack. The one that doesn't is the original headset they released; I have a pair and they supported it on PS4, so it'll probably work on PS5 too.Will any of the Sony Playstation wireless headsets do 3D audio?
Whatever you use, just make sure they're in stereo mode. :)I have these headphones:
HyperX Cloud Core - Gaming Headset + 7.1
The Cloud Core is the essential gaming headset for those who are looking to team up and beat the competition. Available with DTS Headphone:X spatial audio.www.hyperxgaming.com
Silve model. Would they be enough to enjoy this?
But is it possible for this presentation to have 3D Audio, and would the Sony Wireless Gold headset work in that instance?Anything stereo that can be plugged into the PS5 should work. Since all but one has a 3.5mm jack, all of those will work thanks to the Dualsense having a 3.5mm jack. The one that doesn't is the original headset they released; I have a pair and they supported it on PS4, so it'll probably work on PS5 too.
My girlfriend is unable to play it because I insisted we use headphones haha. It was amazing tho.Surprised nobody is mentioning the mind blowing audio experience that was Hellblade. That is a hint of what we have to look forward to with this 3D Audio tech.
Lol, I skimmed it and saw 7.1 on one of the models. Basically, the higher the quality the better, but even good earbuds do a decent job with binaural youtube videos. Load up a youtube binaural demo and have a go.Thanks! They actually don't have 7.1 audio, so it's always on stereo mode.
All it needs is a stereo stream, so yes it's possible, and the Sony Golds will work fine if they're in stereo mode. The drawbacks compared to native PS5 listening is youtube compression will hurt the quality a bit, and you won't be able to pick an HRTF profile so you might not get the full effect.But is it possible for this presentation to have 3D Audio, and would the Sony Wireless Gold headset work in that instance?
Hey there, Reinhardt! As a surround sound expert, I'm asking for your advice once again:
Lol, I skimmed it and saw 7.1 on one of the models. Basically, the higher the quality the better, but even good earbuds do a decent job with binaural youtube videos. Load up a youtube binaural demo and have a go.
Hey there, Reinhardt! As a surround sound expert, I'm asking for your advice once again:
I will use the Sony Golds to watch this event. What do you think it's best? VSS mode or regular stereo?
Thanks.
I'm just going to have a look into seeing if I can turn it off just now. Thank you all for the replies, a simple pleb truly appreciates it lol.
Got the same headphone ready for the event. It's make or break for Tempest EngineReady!
If Sony makes the push for more 3D audio in games im all for it.
Well implemented Spatial Audio with a good set of cans is a god send.
I dont think im ever going back to dedicated surround sound.......till I can afford theater quality shit.
Thanks a lot!Well, Sony aims to use HRTF that works on regular stereo headphones (Like DTS:X of Dolby Atmos for headsets) so my bet is to take the best stereo headset or headphone you have laying over there. The golds are necesssary to get HRTF surround on PS4/Switch because it has its own HRTF processing DAC, instead of having a system processed solution like Xbox or Windows.
I'm going with my cloud flight headset for this. This event is going to need some extra sound clarity
Also thanks, but i'm far from a surround soud expert ^^U I'm more like a HRTF maniac
So can someone explain to me what 3D audio is? I honestly thought all audio (surround) was 3D.